


Like We Did When Spring Began

by justpastsaturn



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, I do what I want, M/M, Original Character(s), Original Pokemon Region, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26169688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justpastsaturn/pseuds/justpastsaturn
Summary: Calix is on an adventure to see the topmost point of the Rosalm Isles, but when he meets former Team Rocket, Milo, things get complicated. Together they must trust in each other, and their Pokemon, to fulfill a lifetime of a promise.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't cared about canon a day in my life and if you do you're in the wrong place bud.

Calix woke to the smell of sea air and the light from the hull side window beaming him straight in the face. The morning was still young, the sound of Wingull calling shifted his sleeping mind to wakefulness. Today was the day. They should be making landfall by midday and the thought roused him from his covers and onto his feet. Quickly, from his bedside table, he grabbed his pokeball and released his Drifloon, Fantasia. 

“Morning, buddy,” he said, pulling his blond hair into a bun at the back of his head and threw on a white tank top and blue shorts, barely checking to make sure they were right-side-out. Fantasia stretched and twirled in the air and Calix smile. He motioned for her to follow as he, on bare feet, jogged out of his room and up onto the deck. 

He could taste the salty air on his tongue as he ascended. He wondered if he’d ever taste anything else. He felt like he’d been on this ship forever and if the look on Fantasia’s face was to be believed, she felt the same way. Once he was above deck, he was stopped short by one of the sailors. Felix, he recalled. The man was tall, tanned and had the kind of face that made children cry.

“You know better’n running around up here without shoes,” he grumbled. 

Calix smiled meekly. “Just wanted to see if we could see land now.”

“We can, but you can’t without shoes.”

“Come on Felix,” Calix said, inching around him in a small circle. “Fantasia doesn’t have shoes either.”

“Fantasia doesn’t have feet.”

“Please? I just want a peak.”

Felix huffed out a breath, shooting Calix a sly smile. “Alright, just don’t let the Captain see ya.”

Calix gave him a mock salute, and ran to the railing. He heard Felix grumble something about “safety” but he was too excited to care. Out of the starboard horizon he saw it. The Rosalm Isles. It sat on the water like a barge, the smallest of the islands closest, making it appear larger. He was set out for the largest of the islands, but this boat would only take him so far. Still, the excitement grew in his chest. He tugged at Fantasia, pointing.

“That’s where we’re going, buddy. Can you believe it?”

“”Floon!” said Fantasia, which Calix imagined meant “yes.” He smiled broadly at her, and reached into his shirt for his necklace. Holding the pendant tight, he closed his eyes. They’d be there soon, just a few hours. He’d waited for this for seven years, ever since he’d first set out from Floaroma Town on his Pokemon journey. He’d never cared for gyms or championships. Just a chance to get here. 

“We’re almost there, bud,” he said again. “Almost there.”

He stood out on the deck until the captain came by and he avoided being seen by virtue of having Fantasia use Gust to knock his hat off the side of the boat before scurrying back below deck. Once there he laid in bed, his heart pounding a steady rhythm.

_Almost there._

_Almost there._


	2. The Fall

With land under his feet once more, Calix marveled at the island he now stood on. The port was no more than a dock with a small building next to it, with a lighthouse and a few people gathered around to greet the boat as it docked. Calix said goodbye to Felix as he left, and the old sailor smiled, waving a hand.

“You stay out of trouble now!” he yelled and Calix shot him a mischievous smile. 

“I’m never trouble!” he called back. 

Felix shook his head. “Somehow I don’t believe that.”

Calix chose to ignore that and sent one last wave in the other man’s direction before turning to Fantasia. “You ready girl?”

Fantasia spun excitedly and Calix laughed. He adjusted his backpack and made his way down the path and deeper into the island. 

The Rosalm Isles were made up of five small islands, curled together in a C-shape in the middle of the ocean. It was sparsely populated by people, but overflowing with Pokemon. As they walked, Weedle scurried from their hiding places amongst the grass, and Starly called to them from the trees. They passed a small pool of water overflowing with Surskit and as he gazed into the clear water, he could see Barboach peak out of the silt. Flowers of all kinds bloomed along the path, tinging the air with their sweet scent and Calix picked one and put it behind his ear. 

They walked together until the sun sank below the canopy of trees. Calix made a small fire and cooked his rations below the orange glow of the sunset with Fantasia beside him, singing to herself as she floated the perimeter of the camp. They ate a simple soup and curled next to each other as the land grew dark and inky with night. As he drifted, Calix played with the pendant around his neck. They were only four islands away from his goal. He just needed to get to the other side of this island, to the next port. Once there, he’d take a smaller boat to the next island and do it all over until his got to the tippy top of isles, and to the rocky terrain of the final island.

“That’s not too hard, right, buddy?” he asked Fantasia. The Drifloon looked at him and seemed to shrug. Calix nodded in agreement. “Yeah not too hard at all.”

If all the islands were like this one, though, he was sure he’d be able to handle it. So far, this all seemed like a wonderful vacation. Nevermind how long it took him to save to get here. How many trainers he and Fantasia had to beat to gather the funds to take the first boat ride, let alone get him through the other islands. 

“That was pretty rough, wasn’t it?” he said aloud, as though Fantasia were privy to his thoughts. “Remember the guy with the Umbreon? What a jerk.”

Fantasia puffed up. It had been a hard fight, but they’d come out on top, if only barely. He couldn’t say he was surprised they’d struggled. He wasn’t much of a competitive trainer. The work he’d done with Fantasia over the past few months had been the majority of their training after being together for nearly seven years. Fantasia was more a companion than anything else. 

Calix could still imagine the look on his parents faces’ when he’d brought home Fantasia. He’d wandered out to Valley Windworks one day while he was supposed to be playing at a friends house and found Fantasia floating outside of the tall grass. It had been just a few days past his tenth birthday and despite his parents’ assurance that he’d be able to get his own Pokemon soon, he’d always been impatient. With no Pokeballs with him, he grabbed the Drifloon by the strings and fought against it until it tired and he brought it home. 

“Mom and Dad lectured me forever for that one,” he said. “Told me that you’d pull me away forever for grabbing you.”

“Floon,” Fantasia said, daintily, as though to say: “I’d have done it too, if you weren’t so stubborn.”

Calix laughed. “Hey, you got into that Pokeball of your own free will. You wanted to be my buddy.”

Fantasia yawned, and floated close to Calix, cuddling in. He took it as an affirmation and yawned as well. With the skies open to millions of stars overhead, they fell asleep with the sound of Kricketot in their ears.




The next morning they woke groggily and made slow work of breakfast and breaking down camp. Fantasia floated about as Calix worked, singing to herself a happy tune. Despite shouldering the majority of the work, Calix couldn’t say he minded. The anticipation had built up once again and he was too excited to get back on the road to care. Once they were packed up, he sent a backwards look at Fantasia.

“You ready?”

Fantasia floated to his side and spun her affirmation. Calix nodded and they started down the road once more. 

Their walk was much like the day before. The tropical trees swayed with large leaves in the breeze, giving them shade and, from a few, fruit to eat as they trekked. Above them, a herd of Tropius flew and Fantasia called to them as they passed. 

Calix smiled. “You’re in a good mood today. It’s nice to be on dry land, huh?”

Fantasia twirled, happily. The jungle passed as they walked. Fantasia hovered just a few steps behind Calix, never one to hurry. She floated up to the treetops, greeting whatever Pokemon she found there.

Just when Calix was starting to wonder if this island was nothing but jungle, they came to a breach in the trees. Calix tilted his head, running up to the break and then stopped dead. Ahead of him was a wide canyon, dropping down to the ocean. Calix tipped a pebble over the edge of the cliff and watched it fall and fall until finally it was out of sight. 

“Don’t suppose we can go around?” he asked no one. Behind him, Fantasia caught up and floated over the dip, looked down, then retreated back to Calix.

“Yeah, not all of us can do that,” he reminded her. 

Fantasia looked at him and tilted her head, which he took to mean: “Why not?”

“There’s gotta be a bridge or something,” he mused, walking along the edge of the canyon. 

After a bit of investigating, he found it. It was an ancient, rickety thing, with splintered wooden planks and fraying ropes holding it together. He shrugged in a “nothing for it” gesture and stepped forward onto the first plank. 

Fantasia cut him off, pushing him back to the ground. 

“Come on, bud, it’s not that bad.”

Fantasia puffed up but Calix shook his head. He brushed past her and tested the step with his foot.

“See? It’s sturdier than it looks,” he said. He crossed a finger over his heart. “Promise.”

He took the next step and it held. He took another, then another, until he was just about halfway across the bridge, Fantasia in tow behind him, when he heard the creaking. 

“That’s not a good sound,” he said, just as the bridge gave way. The rope that held him snapped, and the others followed suit. He fell, screaming and holding tight to the remains of the rope. He swung, and he readied his feet to catch him against the cliffside. Hitting it with a jolt, he tucked his knees, allowing them to take the brunt of the impact. 

“Help!” he cried, as the swinging stopped. “Someone help!”

Fantasia floated next to him, looking this way and that, not sure what to do. Calix risked letting go with one hand to wave a hand at her.

“Fantasia, go get help,” he said. 

She looked between him, the bridge, and the water below, before nodding and floating up and over the edge of the cliff.

“Calix, how do you get yourself into these things?” he asked himself, breathlessly. Below him, he could hear the churn of the ocean, could feel the salt on the winds and he thought, if he just closed his eyes he could pretend he was back on the ship. 

He wasn’t sure how long he hung there, eyes closed and breathing as evenly as he could, praying the rope wouldn’t snap again. When he heard the voice over him, he already accepted his death.

“Hey!” someone called. “Is this your Drifloon?”

“Not really the question I want you to ask,” he called back, his eyes still screwed shut. “But yeah, that’s my Drifloon.”

“Hold on, I’ll get you back up,” said the voice. Calix heard the sound of a Pokemon being released from a Pokeball, then the fluttering of wings. Slowly, he cracked one eye open.

In front of him was a Krobat and a massive one. He nearly asked the voice what he was feeding it, but decided that was a question for a later time. 

“Grab on!” said the voice. 

“Understand that,” Calix muttered. “But I’m starting to think there’s a question of whether I can.”

“Don’t be a wimp.”

Calix shook his head. Tentatively, he reached out, wrapping an arm around the giant Krobat then swinging his other, letting go of the rope.

His heart dropped as they did.

It was only for a moment and for maybe a half a foot before the Krobat adjusted to his weight and brought him up, flapping its wings wildly. Slowly, they ascended, and Calix came face to face with the owner of the voice. 

He was tall, with black hair pulled back into a bun with a headband pulling back his bangs. Dressed in jeans and a denim jacket with a bright pink shirt underneath, he seemed overdressed for the heat of the jungle. Krobat dropped Calix unceremoniously to the ground, before returning to its trainer.

“So are you dumb or just extemely optimistic?” asked the man, holding out a hand to help Calix up.

Calix shot him a mischievous smile. “Some would say there’s not a difference.”

The man’s stony face broke into a small smile. “Fair point. There’s a stone bridge about a mile this way if you want across. No one’s used this one in ages. But you see why.”

The man paused. “You do see why, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Calix said, opening his arms up to Fantasia as she rushed to him. “No rope bridges.”

The man nodded. “No rope bridges.”

“Well, thanks for the rescue…?”

The man sized him up a moment, his eyes weary. “Milo.”

“Milo. I’m Calix. Thanks again for saving me.”

“It’s fine,” Milo said, turning from him. Calix quirked an eyebrow. 

“Though, if I can impose…”

“What?”

“I’m just saying, you seem to know the area. Wanna help a fella out?”

Milo turned back to him. He reached to his belt, pulling out a Pokeball and calling Krobat back. “No.”

The stone-cold dismissal struck Calix like a slap to the face. His smile fell. “Hey, why not?”

“You don’t need my help.”

“Clearly,” Calix said, slowly, “I do.”

“You’re fine,” Milo said. “Just avoid sharp objects and steep falls.”

“Failed step one,” Calix joked. “Come on. Traveling is more fun with other people.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“I know you saved my life. I’m your problem now.”

Milo sighed. “How does that make you my problem?”

“Now I have to pay you back,” said Calix. “Can’t do that if I don’t know where you are.”

“Floon!” Fantasia threw in.

“Yeah!” Calix agreed. 

“Look, kid—” 

“Don’t call me kid, you’re my age.”

“ _Look_. I didn’t want to bring this up, but I used to run with Team Rocket. I’m not a good guy. Just get lost and leave me alone.”

“Who’s Team Rocket?” Calix asked. 

Milo stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “You’re joking.”

“Cross my heart.”

“Where are you even _from_?”

“Floaroma Town. Sinnoh Region.”

“By Arceus. Your folks never let you watch TV?

Calix smiled. “Said it’d rot my brain.”

“Little late for that.” Milo sighed again. “ _Fine_. Where are you heading?”

Calix crossed his ankles, shifting his weight to one foot. “Going to the peak of Rosalm Mountain.”

“I’ll take you as far as the dock.”

Calix considered it. He looked to Fantasia and they exchanged thoughtful glances. “Okay, deal.”

Milo nodded, curt. He turned on his heel and started to walk along the edge of the cliff. “Fine. Now come on. I don’t have all day.”

“Okay, Crankypants.”

Calix followed after him, glad his heart rate had finally steadied. Despite his calm outer appearance, the fall had jostled him. He didn’t realize how terrifying it was to travel with only him and Fantasia. Back home, he’d had his friends with him. He’d thought he wanted to do this alone but now… 

Now he needed to figure out how to convince Milo to stick around.


End file.
